Bloodstains
by Liliththestormgoddess
Summary: Bloodstains aren't the only things that never wash away…


Bloodstains

by Liliththestormgoddess

**Summary**: Bloodstains aren't the only things that never wash away…

**Disclaimer**: I don't own Tangled.

**A/N**: My first Tangled fic! I've been scribbling some notes down for another multi-chapter fic that popped into my head, but since this one was a one shot, it got finished first.

I got this idea after watching the movie for like the tenth time, and noticed how curious it was that while meeting her parents, Eugene's clothes were in pristine condition. And so this came to my mind.

**Update**: Due to a little mix-up, adrilabelle's review did not come out as intended. She asked me to clarify: "ARGHHH I'm so so SORRY! I loved your story ! really really ! I just made a mistake, I was replying a message from another story, and, and, I pasted my reply from google translate to fanfic's wrong window !  
That's just ... disgusting, really ! you think you can erase it ? if no, you think you can copy this message in replay to my review ? I'm really sorry ! the real review was that I love the way you speak about Eugene's felling and reaction to his death because there are not a lot of fanfic that talks about it, and I found that great ! ... grrr really really sorry for the mistake !, your story is just great !"

"Alright," Rapunzel smiled. "Let's get you up." She helped lift Eugene to his feet, holding his arm tightly as he swayed unsteadily.

After he picked the lock on the shackles of his wrist, the two found the trapdoor in the floor and made their way down the long spiral staircase. Upon exiting, they squinted in the bright sunlight, shielding their eyes.

Immediately, Maximus bounded over to the pair, eyeing and sniffing Rapunzel.

She giggled. "It's alright, Maximus. It's me, Rapunzel." He snorted and gave her a look as if to say, 'Are you sure?' but she smelled the same to him and it confused him. She looked so different. She opened her mouth to answer when she realized that Eugene was no longer beside her.

Frowning, she spun around to see him standing at the stream that ran by the tower. He was muttering angrily, tearing at the buttons on his vest.

"Eugene?" she asked cautiously, approaching him.

He didn't seem to hear her, he just kept muttering. Finally, he had undone all the buttons and forcefully wrenched the vest off himself and threw it into the stream. Then he vigorously began to shake it and scrub at it.

Confused, she stood behind him and peered over his shoulder. When she saw what he was scrubbing at like there was no tomorrow, her heart sank and she understood.

He was trying to wash out the bloodstains.

"Eugene?" she said again, softly. But again, he didn't hear her.

"Out, out…get out," he kept muttering, scrubbing furiously. Glancing quickly around, he grabbed a nearby rock and resorted to pounding on the stain. After a few minutes he straightened up, breathing hard, but did not take his eyes off his soaked vest.

Rapunzel thought that perhaps he was finished now. "Eugene?" she asked again, and laid a soft hand on his arm.

He jumped, startled, and turned to look at her. But it was as if he saw right through her. She could tell that his eyes weren't really seeing her by their far-off expression.

His gaze darted down and rested on his abdomen. And then it was as if a demon had seized hold of him again, for his eyes widened and his whole body tensed.

Wrenching himself from her grip, he scrabbled with the buttons of his white shirt before tearing the article from himself. Rapunzel watched as he threw it too into the stream, keeping up his obsessed muttering. Her eyes didn't want to depart from the shirt, enthralled by the dark contrast in colour – red on white.

Eugene stooped to begin his relentless beating on the shirt, and she could hear his choked "it has to get out…get out…"

She realized then that he was shirtless. Her breath caught in her throat, as she watched the muscles ripple in his tanned back, and saw the numerous scars littered there…

But she wrenched herself away from that line of thinking. This was not the time, and right now, she needed to help Eugene. He was hurting and she needed to heal him – even when she did not have the power of her magic hair anymore.

She kneeled down beside him, and placed a firm hand on his shoulder. "Eugene," she said more firmly, giving him a little shake. "Eugene."

His breathing quickened and he continued to scrub and beat his clothes, again giving no sign that he had heard her.

"Eugene!" she said loudly. "Eugene, please look at me!"

Finally, her cries got through to him. He stopped, and turned to look at her, his eyes glassy and unfocused.

Rapunzel touched his face. "Please, tell me what's wrong."

He looked straight into her eyes. "It won't come out," he whispered hoarsely. "The bloodstains – " he paused, drawing in a shaky breath. "They won't get out."

She felt her heart break at the sight of him, trying fervently to hold onto the last pieces of his sanity and strength. He had died in that tower, and he had come back to life. She was sure that could not be an easy thing to comprehend or to handle. But he had been there for her in the tower, had willingly given up his life for her, and so now she had to be there for him.

She bit her lip and shook her head. "No, they won't come out, Eugene. Bloodstains don't come out." At the broken look in his eyes, she wrapped her arms around him and smiled. "But it's okay. Because I'm here for you. And you're still here." She tipped her head up to look at him, repeating, "_You're still here_."

It took a few moments, but then she felt him respond, pulling her tighter into his arms. She hugged him back fiercely, feeling his body shake slightly. She rested her cheek against his chest, listening to his heartbeat. It was such a wonderful sound, she thought. She would never take it for granted again.

Several minutes later they pulled away, and she smiled sympathetically at him. He smiled back at her, slightly embarrassed as he wiped his eyes. She then turned to see his clothes still soaking in the river, and that he was still bare-chested.

"I think we should let your clothes dry before we meet my parents, don't you think?" she asked, pulling the garments from the water.

There was a pause, then a cry of "what?"


End file.
